Capturing or destroying aircraft.



J. A. ST EINMETZ. CAPTURINQ 0R DESTROYING AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, I914.

Paten ed Feb. 8,1916.

WITNESSES ATTORNEY.

. a bomb attached to a .30

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH A. STEINMETZ, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAPTURING OR DESTROYING AIRCRAFT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

Application filefd May 7, 1914. Serial No. 836,892.

A leading object of this invention is to capture hostile aircraft although it also provides optionally usable means for de-v stroying them. This leading object is sought in providing means for quickly attaching some part of such aircraft to the earth or to a drag, thereby exerting a disabling or descent-compelling pull upon the attacked obect.

In the accompanyingdrawings, which are diagrammatic, Figure 1 shows in perspective, an attacked and an attacking-aeroplane in flight, the latter being provided with my devices. Figs. 2, 3, 4, show successive later stages of the attack. Fig. 5 shows, similarly, a modified device secured to the attacked aircraft by the attacking aeroplane, which is omitted in this figure. Fig. 6 shows carried by the attacklng aircraft. Fig. 7 shows a modified arrangement involving both the capturing devices and destroying bombs. 1 I

In these figures, A represents an attacking aeroplane, or other suitable aircraft, provided with a preferably very long fiexi: ble cable or wire 13 having at one end a suitable grapple C and at the other a preferably much heavier anchor D. The attacking aeroplane rises, or seeks to rise, far above the plane of an aircraft E which it is desired to capture or destroy, and when at proper height drops the grapple and pays out enough wire to hold the grapple suspended at some distance below that plane, and then by taking a suitable course seeks to bring the suspending .wire laterally against the. lower aircraft; When the attacking aviator finds the grapple and the two ifles'selsin suitable relative position, he

drops: the 'anchor, as-suggested in Fig. 2,

and continues hisfiight in any desired direction. If he has-judged correctly, the grappleand:anchor'quick1y descend and the intermediate portion of the wire forms a bight or loop in .izvhich the attacked craft part of the apparatus is caught, as indicated in Fig. 3, and then owing to the excess of weight the anchor quickly drops to the earth, the wire slipping on the attacked aircraft, meantime, and the grapple being drawn upward into engagement with the latter. The anchor engaging the earth or obj ectsthereon, the mov- 'ing attacked craft is instantly subjected to a rotary and descent-compelling pull quickly bringing it to earth. Owing to the movement of the attacked craft, slack in the wire when the anchor reaches the earth is at once taken up and the result is unchanged. Should it happen that the attacked craft is engaged by the grapple before the anchor reaches the earth, the heavy anchor exerts a strong and instantaneous pull usually tendlng to rotate theattacked craft, and if the grapple holds its engagement the latter is brought down, while if the grapple should tear loose there is a strong probability that the attacked craft will be disabled.

In some cases it may be advisable to modify the construction and action of the devices, and a parachute F, Fig. 5, is provided.

near the grapple, before or after the latter is thrown overboard, and at the proper time the anchor is dropped as before but without paying out enough wire necessarily, to reach the earth. If the attacked craft is in the usual rapid flight, the parachute strongly resists forward movement and the anchor itself is thus drawn upward into engagement with the attacked craft, which the parachute acting asadragcompels to descend .so that again it may be put out of commission without necessarily being destroyed.

Should the attacking aviator so desire, he may quickly clamp to the wire near the grapple or anchor or elsewhere a bomb G, Fig. 6, adapted to explode whenever it is drawn against the attacked craft, by the attacln'ng craft, by the anchor, or by the pull of the parachute, and thereby the attacked craft may be utterly destroyed by an explo- This may be quickly attached to the wire sion occurring when the'attacln'ng craft is- I 0nd oppositely turned grapple and bomb if desired, are also attached to the wire B near theballoon and also to the wire I holding the balloon captive, so that lateral deflection of either wire by any moving aircraft will cause such craft to be engagedby one at least of the grapples or to be destroyed by explosion of one or more of the bombs. It may be here mentioned that, as in certain patented devices in this general .art, the bombs, when used, are provided with a weight at the end opposite the 'contact devices, so that in case of falling to the earth the impact maybe that of. the weighted end rather than the contact bearhigh explosives, perhaps, under cover of darkness or thick fog, is practically guarded against.

It is desirable to have the grappling devices provided with sharp points adapted to pierce p'uncturable envelops, Wings and the like, and with barbs which tend to maintain engagement with fabric, wires, or other parts of hostile craft. Where aeroplanes or any aircraft in free flight are used, the wire 1s preferably carried upon suitable reels, as 1n the prior art,-andin such cases the wire 1s paid out so far as may be desired and then the aviator clamps to the wire an anchor, or bomb, or both, and then cuts the mm between them and the :reel, before the attached devices are thrown overboard.

As one of themany advantages of the use of this mventionyit may be noted that in the chances of warfare, the aviator may find that h1s distance from the point of an exploslon which he is about to cause will be dangerously short. In such case, instead of allowing his own craft to. pull a bomb into explosive contact, he clamps an anchor or weight to the wire and cuts the latter, immedlately dropping the attached devices and moving 'out of the zone of danger in the brief interval before the explosion. It

of the lower craft, andthrowing the weight free from the higher craft. 7

2. The method of attacking aircraft in flight which consists in providing a long 7 wire, or the like, having at one-end a con-.

tact bomb and at the opposite end a weight the grapple and weight upon opposite sides materially heavierthan the bomb, and by suitable means causing. the intermediate portion of the wire to rest upon an attacked aircraft lying between the otherwise unsupported weight and bomb whereby the-weight descending by gravity draws the lighter bomb into contact with the attacked aircraft and thus causes an explosion.

3. The combination with a suitable aircraft, of a wire depending therefrom and having .at its lower end a bomb adapted'to.

explode when drawn upwardly against a resisting body, and having at its upper end a Wei ht materially heavier than the bomb; where y the bomb and weight being brought to opposite sides of any attacked aircraft in a lower plane, the discharge of the weight may cause the bomb to be drawn to the at-- tacked aircraft.

- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. JOSEPH A. STEINMETZ.

Witnesses: 1

E. M. CONREY,

H. G. VAN Comrr. 

